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Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

MountRoyalTunnel

The Mount Royal Tunnel The Gazette, Jan. 17, 1917

Nearly five years ago Messrs. S.P. Brown, chief engineer, and J.C.K. Stuart, chief assistant, of the Mount Royal Terminal & Tunnel Company, began driving the tunnel through Mount Royal, and although unavoidable delays have been encountered, the passage from Lagauchetiere street to the western portal, three miles in length, was yesterday officially announced as practically completed with a large gang of men at work laying a double and permanent track from one end of the tunnel to the other.

Sir Donald Mann is now engaged looking over tenders which have been received for the construction of a reinforced concrete and steel structure at the northwest corner of Lagauchetiere and St. Monique streets, which, when completed at a probable cost of $150,000 a few months hence, will be used as the starting point for trains for Quebec, Ottawa, and, in fact, for the Canadian Northern trains across the continent.

A contract will also be given almost immediately for the removal of 200,000 cubic yards of excavation work for the site of the company's station, and of this amount 140,000 cubic yards will be taken through the tunnel in order to ballast the company's yards at Cartierville, the balance to be disposed of as the engineers of the company may see fit.

The statement was made at headquarters yesterday that the CNR regular trains will be running out and coming into Montreal during the month of June.

It is estimated that the entire site for the Canadian Northern Station can be excavated in the space of four months, and the new temporary station on Lagauchetiere street will either be built now or its construction will take place on the opening of spring. There will not, however, be any delay in using the tunnel for the passage of both the local and transcontinental service.

As the trains to and from Cartierville will be moved by electricity rather than steam, there will be no ventilation difficulties, and the lighting of the tunnel will be an after consideration.

Two of the six electrical eighty-ton locomotives are now to be seen at the western portal and they are to be used for moving the excavation trains from the station site to the Cartierville yards and later on for the regular service.

The laying of the ties and steel, which is already under way, gives promise of a very permanent piece of work in keeping with the enterprise as a whole.

I believe it is still used ,for the trains to go through,I will see if I can locate other photos,I think I may have even posted some at some point ? .......and Happy new Year to you too....... Cheers ! HF&RV - Les

Double-tracking from Bois-Franc to Roxboro-Pierrefonds, and station at Autoroute 13 (Bois de Liesse); initially shelved, probably due to lack of funds. This can now be expected in the near future, at least to Autoroute 13. A new station in St. Eustache. 22 additional cars, for a total fleet of 80. Expansion of park and ride lots at most outlying stations; with increased popularity of rebuilt line, there is often not enough parking space!

Longer Term There has been talk for 30 years about extending the electrification from Deux-Montagnes to Mirabel Airport; so far nothing has come of it. (One possible reason: Mirabel is outside the AMT’s territory). The old Montreal North branch could also be revived; there has been some talk of this over the years, with an extension to Repentigny, on the North Shore. The electrification could eventually be extended across the Victoria Bridge, to the South Shore. Diesel-hauled service to the South Shore resumed May 29, 2000, to McMasterville, and will be extended to St. Hilaire by 2001. This line was abandoned in 1988 due to low ridership and lack of local government support.

n 1911, the Canadian Northern Tunnel and Terminal Company was incorporated to build the tunnel and terminal. It was later renamed Mount Royal Tunnel and Terminal Company and was a wholly owned subsidiary of CNoR. Construction started at the west portal on July 8, 1912. On December 10, 1913 crews from the east and west portals met beneath Mount Royal; they were out of alignment by 1 inch (2.5 cm). The bore measures approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) and has an ascending grade of 0.6% westbound.

CNoR placed an order with General Electric in 1914 for 6 boxcab electric-powered locomotives for use in the tunnel; they were delivered in 19161917. Lining of the tunnel bore with concrete was completed by 1916 and the 2 parallel standard gauge tracks and 2400 V DC catenary were installed by September 1918. Progress was slowed by the First World War and CNoR's ongoing financial difficulties by the mid-1910s

Major Projects scheduled for Montreal,....there should be a huge building boom jhappenning in Montreal over the next decade or so,aside from the Bonaventure,the Champlain & Mercier Bridge ,the Turcot Interchange.as well as numerous other needed infrastructure roadways & the like,check out this site which also shows possible & planned rail line & metro line projects...http://plan2020.amt.qc.ca/Major+projects HF&RV Cheers ! - Les